Jennifer Love Artwork BLOG

I was so lucky to attend a fabulous and fun Utah Watercolor Society mini-workshop with Nancy Maxfield Lund at the end of March! I learned about staining paper, reviewed composition and design, and how to create watercolor collage with the papers I had stained and/or other paper. Painting with paper! AWESOME! My work table Hand-stained papers Stained papers drying Stained papers drying and partially used I have long admired Nancy's work in the 12 years that I have known her, and have been wondering how she creates her wonderful collage work. Now, after a decade, the question has been answered! (At least on a basic level). :) Nancy demonstrating Nancy is a great instructor with helpful hints to share and she gives you straight-up feedback. I'll be honest...my brain was hurting by the end of this workshop! I only managed to get three paintings completed during my time there - ...

Twas the night before workshop And all through the hous e,  An artist was scurrying,  As fast as a mouse Paints and paper all packed Anticipation abounds Palette, cardboard and towels No scraps of paper left to be found (okay...maybe a few...) The hour is late As she checks her list twice Do I have all my supplies? Missing some wouldn't be nice Morning will be hurried, Make sure things are ready Tuck the kids into bed With a blanket and teddy The artist is tired She hopes all is done Tomorrow she's off  To learn from Nancy Maxfield Lund ! Paints, palette, papers all packed for workshop. This is my "empty" studio space. :) I'm registered for a two-day collage workshop with the awesome Nancy Maxfield Lund  that starts tomorrow. This is another "mini workshop" sponsored by the Utah Watercolor Society . I am super excited! Hopefully, I will have some interesting art to share afterwards. :) As always, thanks for sto...

What I love about mid-March in Utah are the sure signs of Spring that seem to appear almost overnight. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets. SUN in general! Daffodils blooming, buds appearing on my lilacs, leaves on my butterfly bushes, and tulips poking out of the ground in my flower beds! Our house is West-facing, so the tulips are always coming up later than most of the neighbors, but they also bloom later, so I have flowers longer. :) I have found, over the past few years, that I increasingly crave the sunlight and find the gray days and dark nights of Winter to be increasingly depressing for me. There are some sunshine days that are beautiful in Winter, and I see the beauty there. But, the lack of light and the prevalence of gray make the overall season more and more difficult. So, as Spring approaches, the light increases, the flowers start popping out, and the weather starts warming up, I feel more cheerful, more energetic, and more inspired! Today, the temperatures are warm, my k...

Random topics today? Perhaps.  It is Monday. First day of a super busy week for me. Day six of my personal "No McDonald's for breakfast" challenge. You can follow my daily challenge at my Instagram account or @JenniferLoveArt on Twitter if you want! Or follow JenniferLoveArtwork on your Instagram app (since that's really what Instagram wants...no websites for those folks!)  My challenge is the daily count-up (how many days can I go?) of replacing my usual McDonald's breakfast meal with oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. I am trying to cut out the extra calories, time, and money that my McD breakfast cravings have created in my life in the past few years. Small steps towards getting healthier...and long life = more time for me to create art!  #savingmoney #eatinghealthierbreakfast #21daystochangeahabit Instant oatmeal instead of Sausage/Egg McMuffin! Here in Utah, we moved our clocks forward one hour at 2:00am on Sunday morning in observance of Day...

The last year and a half have been a challenge for our family and, in particular, the last nine months have taken much of my attention as Mom. Our youngest son was diagnosed Anxiety, causing ODD behaviors last June. We have been in therapy with him since that time. Weekly at first, then every two weeks, then three, then every six weeks - until yesterday - our most recent therapy session. Apparently we have "graduated" and that will be our last session (unless we have a major resurgence of problems). Admittedly, I am a little nervous going it alone, but the the therapist seems to have confidence in my skills to assess the situations and adapt our approach to his behavior in order to achieve positive results. I think child therapy sessions would really be more aptly named "parenting therapy." We have learned some great tools and techniques to help us better communicate with our little one as well as improve behavior and cooperation. But, there are always setbacks and ...

Wife, mother, referee, nurse, cook, laundress, time-out enforcer, maid, dishwasher, lawn care specialist, gardener, research director, referee, artist, newsletter editor, primary worker, recycling coordinator, referee... As so many of us do, I wear many hats. Mother and wife are the most important hats. Research Director puts food on our table and a roof over our heads. Dishwasher, laundress, cook, lawn care specialist, gardener, etc... are all necessary to keep our household running. Referee, referee, referee...well, that's what you get with two little boys in the house! Newsletter Editor and Primary are voluntary jobs, but I try to do my best. Unfortunately, the "artist" hat, because it is my personal pursuit and not something that currently provides much benefit to my family other than "making mommy happy," often gets put on last and in the moments when I can eke out a few hours to myself. I am trying to carve out regular painting time in my life, work it...

I was recently nominated by my friend (and fellow artist) Neena Plant-Henninger to do a challenge on Facebook: Post three paintings per day for five days - and nominate another artist to do the same each day that you post. They could be old or new paintings. The point: to fill Facebook with art images for the new year. Sounded fun, so I did! :) I tried to post around a bit of a theme for each day. Here are my five days' worth of paintings.  Day 1: Ballerinas (slightly older work) Day 2: Animals (more recent work) Day 3: Portraits (REALLY old work...but I still like them :)) Day 4: Kokopelli (more recent work - including a woven painting) Day 5: Butterflies (slightly older + more recent work - and, of course, I couldn't choose favorites, so three paintings turned into seven for this final day!) This was super fun, and also a good exercise for me. It helped me to realize that, even though I am facing the ch...